UCSD Recreationhttps://recreation.ucsd.edu
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3232Healthy Frozen Meal Entreeshttps://recreation.ucsd.edu/2019/01/heathy-frozen-meal-entrees/
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:59:18 +0000http://recreation.ucsd.edu/?p=16946Frozen meal entrees can be a great staple to keep on hand for a quick dinner, or an easy lunch to bring with you to work or class. But, not all frozen meals are the same. Here are a few good options to stock up on!

]]>Nutrition Byte: New Year’s Resolutionshttps://recreation.ucsd.edu/2019/01/nutrition-byte-new-years-resolutions/
Mon, 14 Jan 2019 20:38:03 +0000http://recreation.ucsd.edu/?p=16911With the new year upon us it’s only natural to think about areas of our life we would like to improve upon, especially when it comes to our health. This is a great time to reflect on the past year and to map out where you’d like to be. However, all too often I find most of my clients set vague or unrealistic goals although the intention is good. Things like “I want to be healthier” or “I’m going to prepare all my meals at home.” This not only sets us up for failure, but also disappointment when we’re unable to implement and sustain unrealistic changes.

A different approach I would recommend is this: Get specific. Reflect on what you want to be different, whether that is to “get healthier, eat better, move more, stress less…” and narrow it down from there. Start by picking one or two concrete goals. For example, going to bed by 10pm during the week, eating a serving of vegetables at dinner 3x/week, packing lunch 2x/week, or walking 15 min 5x/week. Consider what area seems the most practical to change right now.

Once you have a specific goal in mind there are a few other things to consider. You can ask yourself is this change achievable? Do I have the skills, equipment, resources, and time to accomplish this goal? Additionally, is this goal realistic for the here and now? Maybe you’d like to prepare more meals at home, but with your current schedule you get home late most nights. It doesn’t mean you can’t be working towards incorporating more meals from home. Maybe instead of aiming to cook 5 nights per week you start at 1 or 2 nights.

Once you’ve narrowed down a specific goal and made sure it was achievable and realistic it’s time to take action. Formulate a plan for your goal. This is often the area we don’t spend enough time on. Take our example, if we plan to pack lunch 2x per week what will that look like? Will you be packing leftovers or making something else? Do you have a lunchbox, or containers to take with you? What do you need to get from the grocery store to be prepared? What two days would be the easiest to pack lunch? Try to be as detailed as possible so you know what you need to do.

Lastly, track and monitor your progress. Recognize that changing behaviors and implementing habits takes time and you will experience setbacks. It’s important to be flexible and by monitoring when you’re successful and when you are not, you can adjust as needed.

Also, a few other helpful tips & tricks include:

Accountability – making a change with someone else oftentimes makes us more successful (ie. Plan to walk with a friend or try a new workout class together

Think about how this change will affect you internally – all too often we focus on the external “results”, but spend some time thinking how this change will help you internally. Will you have more energy, experience less stress…

Schedule what you can (what days you plan to work out, or days you will pack your lunches) so it becomes part of your routine

Utilize apps to stay on track and monitor your progress. Some apps include:

Strides

Habit Hub

Habitica

Your future self will thank you!

If you’d like assistance on your journey to well-being or with changing habits contact Erin @ ekukura@ucsd.edu.

]]>Nutrition Byte: Is Frozen Food Bad?https://recreation.ucsd.edu/2018/12/nutrition-byte-is-frozen-food-bad/
Tue, 04 Dec 2018 21:00:06 +0000http://recreation.ucsd.edu/?p=16373One of the most common questions I get is how healthy frozen food is for you. The good news is that frozen food, especially fruits and vegetables is a budget-friendly, convenient option that makes eating healthy easier!

Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked at their peak ripeness and flash-frozen. This means that nutritionally there is minimal difference between fresh and frozen produce.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are also usually cheaper than fresh options especially with items that are not in season. Plus, you can use what you need for that meal and freeze the rest, so you won’t be losing money on food waste.

Frozen fruits can be easy to use in a variety of meals such as smoothies, or overnight oats (include links to recipes). Frozen vegetables are convenient to add as a side to a meal (think frozen broccoli to pasta or stir-fry vegetables to a rice bowl).

Additionally, frozen meals have also come quite a long way. There are a ton of great options available to stock up on to have for hectic days such as, Evol, Saffron Road, and Amy’s frozen meals. Trader Joe’s also has a great selection of frozen meals as well.

Next time, you’re in the store, don’t forget to check out the freezer section for some of these great finds.

If you’d like assistance on your journey to well-being or feel that you would like to improve your relationship with food feel free to contact Erin @ ekukura@ucsd.edu.

]]>5 Go-To Meals in 10 Minutes or Lesshttps://recreation.ucsd.edu/2018/11/5-go-to-meals-in-10-minutes-or-less/
Thu, 29 Nov 2018 20:18:31 +0000http://recreation.ucsd.edu/?p=16013You know how it goes. Class until 4pm, Gym until 5:30 and then 40$ worth of Safeway produce later you arrive home at 7:30, ravenous with at least 30 minutes of chopping and cooking ahead of you. Or…a bowl of frosted flakes?

The temptation is real.

Instead of calling it quits on a balanced meal altogether and heading for the leftover shelf-stable comfort food or that Domino’s pizza from last Saturday night, here’s five meals in ten minutes or less that won’t break your budget, or your will power for that matter.

Poached Egg on Herbed Avocado Toast

Recipe and Image from Pinch of Yum Website

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 slices whole grain bread

1/3 medium avocado

2 T Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper

Fresh herbs (parsley, thyme or basil) for topping

Cherry tomatoes for topping

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil (use enough water to cover the eggs when they lay in the bottom). Drop the metal rims (outer rim only) of two mason jar lids into the pot so they are laying flat on the bottom. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and carefully crack the eggs directly into each rim. Cover the pot and poach for 5 minutes (4 for super soft, 4:30 for soft, 5 or more for semi-soft yolks).

While the eggs are cooking, toast the bread and smash the avocado on each piece of toast. When the eggs are done, use a spatula to lift the eggs out of the water. Gently pull the rim off of the eggs (I do this right on the spatula, over the water) and place the poached eggs on top of the toast. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs; serve with the fresh quartered heirloom tomatoes.

Rinse and dry sweet potato and poke 4-5 slits in it for ventilation. Microwave for 4-8 minutes or until cooked through. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add garlic and cook for 60 seconds or until fragrant. Add kale and toss to coat. Turn off heat and season kale with salt and pepper.

Remove sweet potato from microwave and cut in half lengthwise. Top with sautéed kale, ½ cup black beans and ½ of one avocado, mashed. Enjoy.

Easy Mediterranean Bowl

Image from Culinary Hill Website

Ingredients:

1 small cucumber, chopped

½ cup cherry tomatoes

2 cups arugula

7-8 kalamata olives

1/3 cup chickpeas

2 T store-bought hummus

1/3 cup cooked quinoa

1 teaspoon olive oil

Vinegar of choice

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash vegetables, chop them and place in a mixing bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. In a bowl, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, quinoa, olives and hummus to the vegetable mixture. Top with more salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!

If you’d like assistance on your journey to well-being or feel that you would like to improve your relationship with food feel free to contact Erin @ ekukura@ucsd.edu.

The holidays can be a joyous and stressful time of year. There are so many activities and parties to attend oftentimes around a lot of food. Here are a few tips to navigate this holiday season.

Eat normally: It can be overwhelming to make food decisions around the holidays. I always recommend my clients to eat as normally as possible throughout the holiday season. Depriving yourself will always backfire. This means, aim to eat consistently throughout the day, avoid going long periods of time without eating and eat real, whole foods as much as possible. On the holiday itself, pretend it’s just like any other day. Start your morning with a normal satisfying breakfast and include snacks or meals throughout the day rather than waiting to eat until you are starving. The goal here is to go into theholiday meal at a normal level of hunger. When we wait to eat until we’re too hungry wetend to overeat until the point of discomfort. Instead, approach your holiday meal just like any other meal. Listen and honor your fullness cues. Sure, you might eat a little bit pastyour normal feeling of fullness, but it’s not an excuse to eat until you’re uncomfortablyfull.

Don’t deprive yourself: Allow yourself to have treats in moderation and be picky. Don’tfill up your plate with items if you don’t really like them. Savor and enjoy what you’reeating, really taste it as we likely will only have these things a few times a year.

Bring awareness to your eating patterns: It can be tempting to mindlessly eat candiesbut pause and think about how you’ll feel afterwards. Will this food nourish you and howwill you feel later? One or two cookies will feel a whole lot different than eating three or more. Bring awareness to your eating patterns and how you feel afterwards.

Practice stress management: Too much stress can be harmful not to mention we oftentimes eat to cope with stress or other emotions. This may be even more prevalent around the holidays. Incorporate activities that will help lower stress and take care of yourself such as going for a walk, taking a yoga class, getting consistent sleep, reading, drawing, or doing another fun activity.

Practice self-compassion: Avoid berating yourself over food choices. Instead, bring curiosity to your eating experience and ask yourself what was going on during that time or what were you eating in response to? Is there anything that you can do differently next time? Then let it go and move on.

Practice gratitude and focus on the bigger meaning of the holidays. Enjoy time with loved ones.

Here are a few recipe ideas to bring to your holiday meals that are quick, contain real food ingredients and are delicious, enjoy!

Breakfast is an important meal of the day. It oftentimes kickstarts our metabolism and can keep us satisfied and with enough energy levels to start our day. But, it can also be a challenging time of day getting ready for work or school. Breakfast should be something that enhances your day and shouldn’t be difficult. Here are 10 Easy breakfast ideas that hopefully help you to have something on hand tomorrow morning

Overnight oatmeal – This is a great option for preparing the night before and having it ready to either eat in the morning or take with you to school/work.

Baked oatmeal – A great one to make ahead of time, then eat throughout the week. I like to add some Greek yogurt for some added protein!

]]>10 Easy Recipes to use with Pumpkinhttps://recreation.ucsd.edu/2018/10/10-easy-recipes-to-use-with-pumpkin/
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 23:12:40 +0000http://recreation.ucsd.edu/?p=15775While it might still be 75 degrees and sunny in San Diego, it’s still fall which means we’re getting excited about pumpkin! Canned pumpkin is available at any time of year, so you can enjoy these recipes at any time. Pumpkin is a great source of fiber, which helps keep you full, vitamin A, which is good for your eyes, and vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting. Try it in these 8 recipes that will get you ready for sweater weather!

Heat oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, salt and spices until well combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin purée and vanilla extract, and mix to combine.

Turn the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients. Mix until a few streaks of flour remain. Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the chocolate chips and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture until well combined.

Scoop the cookies onto prepared baking sheets using a 1-ounce (roughly 2 tablespoon) cookie scoop, 2 inches apart. Gently press the cookies with your fingertips to flatten them slightly. The batter is quite sticky, so you may occasionally have to rinse the cookie scoop and your fingers during this process.

Put the cookies in the oven, and bake, until they are slightly cracked on the surface and golden, and rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, 12 to 15 minutes.

Coffee is commonly used to help us wake up in the morning, or power through the day. Recent research has shown associations between coffee consumption and health benefits. A 2017 umbrella review concluded that coffee consumption was supported by significant associations with lower risk for all cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and total cancer and found no consistent evidence of harmful associations between coffee consumption and health outcomes when consumed within usual levels of intake.1 Although consuming coffee does not appear to be harmful, that doesn’t mean you have to start drinking it and it’s also important to consider how much is too much. Here is the lowdown on caffeine and a few things to be mindful of when it comes to your intake.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the official nutrition recommendations published by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledge that caffeine can be part of a healthy eating pattern (yay!), but say that 400 mg of caffeine is the upper amount that should be consumed. That equates to around 4 cups of brewed coffee a day.

To refresh your memory, here’s how much caffeine is in some common drinks…

– 1 8-oz cup of coffee= ~95-165 mg

– 1 shot espresso= ~17-64 mg

– 1 8-oz cup of green tea= ~25-29 mg

– 1 Energy Drink = ~27-164mg

As you can see, caffeine amounts vary greatly and are dependent on the coffee bean origin, brewing method and serving size of the drink. Caffeine can also be found in sodas, black teas and chocolate.

Although 400 mg is the safe upper amount that should be consumed, everyone has their own sensitivity to caffeine. It’s important to notice for yourself how much caffeine is too much as it can lead to uncomfortable symptoms including:

– Increased anxiety

– Digestive issues

– Increased Heart Rate

– Increased Blood Pressure

– Insomnia & Fatigue

– Nausea

Additionally, those with GERD or sleep issues may also want to avoid caffeine. Caffeine can worsen sleep because the half-life (or amount of time it takes for 1⁄2 of the caffeine to metabolize in your body) is on average 5 hours in healthy individuals. That means, if you drink a cup of coffee at 3pm, half of it is still in your system at 9pm and could be interfering with your ability to sleep.

I encourage individuals to look not only at how much caffeine their consuming, but also at what time of day and to find what works best for you and your body.

Coffee and Added Sweeteners:

Many of our favorite caffeinated drinks, such as the infamous pumpkin spice latte or flavored cold brews contain more sugar than expected.

Here are a few ways to reduce added sugar in your coffee drinks:

– Try skipping the sugar entirely and only adding cream or drinking it black

– Try decreasing the sugar in your drip coffee by half the amount

– Try out a new drink that isn’t sweetened, such as an Americano or a plain latte

– Ask for your drink to be made with half of the sweetener

And remember, it’s okay to have a sugary coffee drink in moderation!
If you would like to schedule an appt with the Erin Kukura, the Recreation Registered Dietitian go to:

https://recreation.ucsd.edu/wellness-services/nutrition/ or e-mail at ekukura@ucsd.edu1.

As a dietitian I often get asked what the “healthiest” way of eating is. Contrary to all the fads out there, there is no ultimate, magical way of eating. In fact, too much rigidity and stress due to restrictive or extreme eating habits is not healthy at all and can lead to disordered eating and eating disorders. Orthorexia, characterized by an unhealthy obsession with eating “healthy” is a prime example of taking something to the extreme to the point where it becomes harmful. Additionally, health encompasses more than eating habits and physical activity. We are now beginning to understand the importance of stress, sleep, connection with others, hobbies and physical movement in our overall well-being.

Diets or other “quick fixes” are designed to be restrictive and may result in some weight loss in the short-term. But, who can follow a diet for years, for the rest of their life? And if you do, what kind of a life would that look like? The point here is that diets while successful in the short-term do long-term damage (see dangers of dieting post). And while they are being touted as “healthy” are in fact leading to weight-gain and accumulation of fat long-term. Not to mention the stress, frustration and self-loathing we experience when we inevitably “fail” the diet. Lastly, being on a diet takes away the ability to listen to our own bodies and to eat in a way that can be nourishing.

How we eat encompasses more than simply viewing food as fuel and nutrition. Eating a variety of mostly whole foods from all food groups, honoring hunger and fullness cues, moving our body, and incorporating stress reducing strategies are all associated with positive health outcomes. Additionally, allowing ourselves permission to eat “fun” foods in moderation can be satisfying and play a role in our emotional health. It’s a normal part of eating to enjoy all foods in moderation and balance. Additionally, how and why we eat is incredibly complex. We may crave certain foods because we aren’t eating enough during the day and struggling with low blood sugars, or maybe we crave certain foods and eat as a way to cope with our emotions. The point here is that our relationship to food is incredibly complicated and continuing to restrict and deprive ourselves only leads to more harm.

The takeaway is that health is complex and consists of a multitude of areas. Our food choices and eating pattern are a piece of this, but also don’t need to be extreme in order for us to gain the benefits. Instead, the behaviors and lifestyle choices we make on a regular basis actually have a pretty big effect on long-term health outcomes. Some simple lifestyle habits include: Eating regularly throughout the day, making time to catch up with friends or get outside, eating fruits or vegetables at most meals, moving your body in yoga or another fitness class, spending time doing a hobby that you like, incorporating self-care strategies, and taking a break from your phone and internet.

I encourage you to think about what behaviors truly make you feel good and what might be one small change you can make to do that more consistently. Focusing on these small, daily changes can do wonders for your health and well-being long-term.

If you’d like assistance on your journey to well-being or feel that you would like to improve your relationship with food feel free to contact Erin @ ekukura@ucsd.edu.